Carlsbad man gets nearly 5 years in firearms, probation violations

A federal judge sentenced a Carlsbad man to almost five years in federal prison for illegal firearms possession and violating his probation.

Eduardo Lerma Jr., 32, was sentenced Tuesday morning in federal court in Las Cruces on charges of being "a felon in possession of a firearm and for violating the terms of his supervised release on a prior federal conviction," according to a news release from the Department of Justice.

Lerma had been previously convicted of possession of a stolen firearm and trafficking drugs in Eddy County.

Lerma pleaded guilty to the current indictment Feb. 13 and was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison, after which he will serve an additional three years under supervised release.